Welcome to the country and to the forum. I expect you will see many brands similar to what you see in Australia. L.A. is a very good shopping city and you could go one of two ways: what we call a big box store like Home Depot Expo , Best Buy (you'll see these in malls), Sears (which has a repeatedly well rated and reliable house brand) or a smaller specialized appliance dealer if you're going upscale. Look around and see which brands suit your budget then you can ask about those here. Expo has a very wide range of products and are very good for looking at the overall picture. One thing that can be surprisingly important is where you buy. Service and waranty issues go through the dealer. So I would suggest buying from someone very near where you live and a dealer which does a brisk business (if you can discern that) in the brand you buy so you get the benefit of their buying power in terms of service. That effects waranty repairs and a replacement appliance in the unlikely event that should arise. We've seen occasional cases here where someone bought too far from home (perhaps to save the tax) with a mess when things went wrong. Good luck!

Have had the same experience with purchasing clothes all within the same manufacturer and size, being completely differently sized than the tag. However, if you take the time to read the Made In " " tag, our clothes are now sol made in China and Indonesia, or most anywhere but the US. These US designer/companies send the work out to labor intensive sweat shops that pay their workers pennies. There are kids working full time in some countries. They aren't given the opportunity to go to school even if their village may happen to have one. The families need everyone to work to keep a home that many on the decorating forum would not feel fit to camp in, let alone live. Cheap labor begets crappy quality control. I don't think complaining will do much, now if we were to boycott enmasse, then it may be noticed, but how difficult would that be to organize? I absolutely hate to shop and do most of it online. I've noticed my need to return for size being my number one reason for doing so. I've always stuck with the stores that I can confidently order a size 8 and that size 8 will fit. No more. That size 8 may fit like a 10, 12 or 6, totally frustrating. Last bit of rant. I haven't notice the designers lowering the cost of their clothing as it was being assembled in countries where the workers are paid next to nothing. Anyone else notice deep discounts because of not being made in the USA?

I just don't like the personal chore of it. I don't like to go often, so I make a big plan and try to go every two weeks. It requires making a meal plan and a very thorough list to feed the 6 of us. So, I get frustrated trying to get my family to participate in the planning, getting ideas of what they'd like for meals so I don't get in a rut. They "don't care" when I make the list, but then ask for things later that I didn't get. Shoulda told me when I asked! I come home with a full minivan, it takes 3 hours, I go to 2-3 stores and take a cooler to keep cold foods. Then it takes me 1/2 a day to put it away. I hate that. But at least it's done for a while. If I am in a bad mood, I know the grocery is not the place for me. The mood will get worse, I won't stay focused, and the job won't get done right. So if I can help it, I wait until my mood improves. I might have to take a little time to myself and find my Zen, get my mind ready. ;o) Most of the time, people are polite and will correct it apologize if the commit a faux pas. Having said that, there is still one thing that will irritate the beejeebees out of me. In the parking lot, people walking diagonally across the driving lanes as slow as molassas while having a conversation. Then they slow to a stop in the middle and have a chat. They will look up, knowing full well cars are stopped waiting for them, and it's like it doesn't cross their mind they are in a parking lot not a park!! These are not physically limited people who cannot walk any faster, I am patient with that, they gotta do what they gotta do. I would get out and hold traffic for them. These offenders are young, tight jeans and high heals, toddler in the cart, bags piled everywhere, hands on their hips "I got all day to stand here and chat so that's what I'm gonna do." It is as if they are from another planet where this behavior is the norm b/c there is no indication that they know any better. Some days I just have to take a cleansing breath and remind myself that I don't want to hurt anyone. I really want to get out and explain to them "Welcome to our planet where we don't have reunions in parking lots."

Thank you SJ. I appreciate your comments, but I disagree. I actually know exactly what I am looking for. We want a light beige, cut pile carpet, saxony style, very dense, height around 3/8 - 1/2" and nylon fiber. My frustration lies around the lack of product information which is unlike any other industry I have ever encountered. This shouldn't be proprietary information. I am not asking for them to divulge their manufacturing process or chemical composition of materials, just basic information....height and weight. How is that proprietary? I have bought several oriental rugs. The maker will be the first to tell you how it was made, the number of knots per square inch., how high the pile of the wool is. This is a wall to wall carpet...in theory it should be very similar. I had a friend who simply wanted to know what carpets were available in a 15' roll. She called the carpet company she was looking at (Shaw) and they told her they couldn't tell her because they didn't have a search engine to tell them that information. I am sorry...you are the manufacturer and you are trying to sell a BS line that you don't know what you make? There are a lot of competitive industries. I don't see TV manufacturers not telling you the size of a TV or the number of pixels. I don't see a car manufacturer saying they can't tell you the type of engine or size of trunk. Lastly, I don't agree that you should rely on the feel of the carpet. I am not saying it isn't important but in my opinion too many people get hung up on feel and then end up disappointed because it doesn't meet their performance standards. My husband was one of them at first.... rubbing his hands and face on a carpet sample. I was like, "when was the last time you slept on the floor?" LOL. My point is, we are looking at spending over $10 - $15k on carpet which is a big investment and like shopping for other large purchases I want to make a selection on more than if it looks "pretty" or "feels" nice. I want to know what I am buying is quality and that it will perform over time. It just frustrates me to no end that manufacturers won't share basic product information which leads me to believe that they have something to hide.